HOLLAND -- A record number of first-time students
has helped boost overall enrollment at Hope College to the
second highest total in the college's history.

Hope has enrolled 2,999 students this fall,
including 763 students attending college for the first time.
Hope set its previous enrollment record, 3,015 students, in
the fall of 2000, the only time overall enrollment at the
college has ever topped 3,000. The previous high for first-
time students was 755, set in the fall of 1999.

The student body is comprised of 1,190 men and
1,809 women from 42 states and 36 foreign countries.
Students transferring to Hope from other colleges
and universities total 57, compared with 73 in 2000. There
are 98 students in off-campus programs, compared to 107 last
year.

Hope College was chartered in 1866 and is
affiliated with the Reformed Church in America (RCA). The
college offers courses in 56 majors leading to a Bachelor of
Arts, Bachelor of Music, Bachelor of Science or Bachelor of
Science in Nursing degree.